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All Things Home

Decorating

design ramblings | decorating with plants

Yes, I know it’s not Friday, our usual Design Ramblings day, but our week was pretty out-of-whack with our trip to Wisconsin!  I was planning to edit and post the video on Friday, but… 1.) I was totally exhausted and had a 4:30 wake-up call the next morning, 2.) iMovie wasn’t launching, and 3.) I was using my hotspot, which isn’t high speed enough to upload a 1080p video to You Tube.  So, it didn’t happen.  I’m back home now and was able to get some rest, get iMovie working, and I have my lightening-fast WiFi again! We were hoping to film a Design Ramblings or two on our trip, but we weren’t sure what the topic would be.  As soon as we saw our host’s home, we knew.  Brenda, of Harvest Home, has an amazing gift with plants.  She doesn’t just take good care of them, so they thrive,

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All Things Home

reupholstery tutorial | French wing chair | part 1

It’s time for another upholstery series!  If you missed my last one, I showed how to upholster a wood-framed, French-style chair.  You can find it HERE.  If you’re scared of upholstery, you’re going to like the way I upholster and teach.  I’m a DIY, self-taught upholsterer, not a “professional.”  I started upholstering dining chair seat cushions and benches with a manual stapler and then graduated to simple slipcovers, such as they were, and finally dove into upholstering an armchair about five years ago. I took the chair apart and then had a little freakout moment.  What in the world have I done to this beautiful chair?!  I had read upholstery books, but I really wasn’t sure if I would be able to get it back together.  I worked through it step by step, just like putting together a puzzle.  It wasn’t perfect, but it actually looked okay!  That gave me the confidence to

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All Things Home

living room pillows | welting vs. gimp

In case you missed it, Kriste and I are heading to Wisconsin tomorrow!  We’re going to be in Milwaukee and Sun Prairie, on Friday and Saturday respectively, to teach workshops, demos and just hang out with blog readers, milk paint lovers and friends-we’ve-yet-to-meet.  You can find all of the details of our trip HERE. Between the long weekend and our trip, though, we’ve been trying to squeeze in some productivity.  I have a big photo shoot in my house coming up, which is a good excuse to get some finishing touches done.  Those are the things that linger on my to-do list and end up getting bumped when more exiting or pressing projects come around. This week, we’ve been finishing up the upholstered chairs in my living and dining rooms and making pillows.  Most of them are still in process, but we did get the living room pillows, for the bergere

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All Things Home

10 minute decorating | “antique” bread board

I was asked by one of my blog buddies, Laura from Finding Home, to join a “10 minute” challenge each month along with some other awesome bloggers.  I tend to take on projects that are more involved..refinishing, painting, upholstering, etc., so I like the idea of pinning myself down each month to do something simple and quick. The theme for this month is “10 minute craft”. As soon as I saw crafting was the theme, I went blank.  I’m not a crafter!  I know there’s a fine line between a DIYer and a crafter, but when I think about doing a 10 minute craft, my creativity just tanked.  So, I went back over things I’ve made over the past few weeks and I found something that was quick, great project… …”antique” bread boards.  I have been collecting bread boards and cutting boards for years, mostly from yard sales, auctions, antique shops,

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All Things Home

learning to garden | tips for beginners like me

Let me start off by saying that I have never been a gardener.  I would look with envy at beautiful yards, edged, green, blossoming, arranged in wild perfection.  I never “got” gardening.  It was too unpredictable and high maintenance and required too much patience for me. When you drove up to our house, it was pretty evident that we were “inside people” and I always felt like I needed to preface our house with, “just wait until you get inside…”  When we put our house on the market last year, our realtor felt the same way.  She put out an “I’m Beautiful Inside” sign in the yard.  That’s realtor speak for, “It’s gets better once you walk through the front door.  Don’t pay attention to the pathetic attempt at flower boxes, the overgrown bushes and the bald spots in the grass.” As we’re nearing the completion of the inside of the

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All Things Home

design ramblings | shopping antique markets

We took the opportunity when we were at Lucketts to film a Design Ramblings “on location”. It was a little distracting, but it was really fun.  We had people waving and making comments from behind the camera and the band started playing…  I think we got some good information in there, though! I think the biggest thing Kriste and I tried to communicate amid the distracting environment, was to buy only what you really, really love.  You never know what you’re going to find at antique markets, so you have to make spur of the moment decisions when you see something that speaks to you.  That can often result in feeling pressured to buy, because “you might never find something like it again.”  I’ve bought and sold enough antiques to know there are some pieces like that, but it’s rare that a piece is so unique you’ll never find something

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All Things Home

Lucketts 2015 | more finds

I shared a few of my Lucketts finds yesterday and thought I would share the other two today. So, it’s Sunday afternoon at the market and things are a little slow.  I had spent most of the day rearranging furniture as things sold and as sprinkles came and went.  The rest of the time, I was hanging out in a folding chair or behind the counter.  I finally wanted to take a stroll around with some pocket money to see if I could find any bargains.  I already had my patio set and some ironstone, so I was just looking for small things that “spoke to me.”  Kriste, Jeff and I headed down to a tent we hadn’t been to, but I bought an architectural blueprint from last year, so I know the vender usually has some cool things.  We were chatting with the vendor and a tall, steel rack

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All Things Home

Lucketts Finds 2015

Between the heat and humidity, bruises and goose-eggs from moving furniture, early mornings, and take-out and fair food, my body was crying out for rest, healthy food and a bit of pampering.  I’m finally starting to feel a bit more like myself this afternoon.  I slept in, spent the morning unapologetically binge-watching Masterpiece Classics, ate mixed veggies and baked chicken for dinner and even soaked in a lavender epsom salt bath.  I could probably spend a few more days like this, but there are deadlines and things to be done, so Kriste and I are back in the studio tomorrow. We literally dumped everything from Lucketts on the studio floor.  The things that didn’t sell and the boxes, bags, tents, tarps…it’s all haphazardly cluttering up our creative space, so we need to get things sorted and organized.  I also want to inventory what’s left, so we can put it up for sale. Since I’ve

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I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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